books | swords | teaching
I like to share my thoughts about life, business, and martial arts. I find writing a blog is one of the best ways to order my thoughts, so that I understand myself better. Sometimes my thoughts may even be of interest to other people.
I have collected a list of my most popular articles, as well as the various articles I have written with advice for shorter fencers. My various reviews of HEMA gear have been collected together for ease of reference.
Finally, I keep a curated page setting out my philosophy for training, teaching, and fencing. This links to the various pages and articles on this website that I believe help to explain my approach to these elements of life and martial arts.
I'm happy to announce another translation – an anonymous 15th century poem about longsword. In fact, this is two translations, one more technical, and one with some poetic licence in order to look and sound like a poem even in English. It is a …
New translation: an anonymous 15th century poem about longswordRead More
Hot on the heels of my longsword translation posted just a couple of weeks ago, I have a new translation ready to go – the messer treatise by Jobst von Württemberg. Although messer is not my area of expertise, I thought it would be interesting to …
My first translation of the new year – the short longsword treatise by Jobst von Württemberg. It is quite an interesting little treatise, because it talks about the Five Cuts, but says that they are all done with the short edge, and also …
New translation: longsword by Jobst von WürttembergRead More
Another new translation – the rappier chapter of Jakob Sutor’s fechtbuch from 1612. This is the final part that I still had to translate, meaning that all of the fencing instructions in the book are now complete! I haven't yet done the …
Another new translation - the staff and halberd chapter of Jakob Sutor's fechtbuch from 1612. This leaves just the rappier chapter, and then the whole book will be finished! Making my own translation has been difficult, since it has not been the …
I have just posted my most recent translation - the longsword chapter of Jakob Sutor's fechtbuch from 1612. Although I have been working with this text for more than a decade, the available translations never quite made sense in my mind. Making my …
I have just posted my most recent translation - the dussack chapter of Jakob Sutor's fechtbuch from 1612. Although I have been working with this text for more than a decade, the available translations never quite made sense in my mind. Making my …
I have just posted my most recent translation - a poem by Hans Czynner about fencing with the longsword. I find it quite an interesting little source, because it illustrates the psychology of a fencer who stands ready to fight, as well as …
I have just posted my most recent translation - the short treatise by a "Master Andreas", comparing actions with the longsword and with the messer. It is quite an interesting and short source, but it is written somewhat ambiguously in places, and …
I have just posted my most recent translation - this time a short poem about a Fechtschule, by Franz Hogenberg in 1587. It is an interesting short few verses. There is not much technical detail in here that might help one improve at fencing, but …
I have just posted my most recent translation - the longsword treatise by Hans Talhoffer. Some of these recent translations have not been particularly difficult pieces of work, which is why it has been possible to knock them out section by section …
I have just posted my most recent translation - the dagger treatise by Andre Lignitzer. While looking after the baby, I can't always get onto a computer to do proper work, so I have been doing the odd paragraph of translation here and there. And …
I have just posted my most recent translation - the circle-fencing of 16th century Polish fencing master, Balthasaro Cramonio Pomerano! This should be of value to anyone working with 16th century German martial arts, as well as anyone interested …
What a grand title. Trust is really important for people to share in many aspects of life – that should not come as a shock to anyone. But how much of a role does it play in martial arts clubs or other shared-interest communities? In this article, …
(Possibly a contender for the most interesting title of an article talking about the GDPR?) This is going to be an article about consent and “opting in” when participating in martial arts, using examples that we are familiar with (or should be!) …
A few months ago, there was an interesting question on Reddit, which I attempted to answer. I would like to expand upon my answer a little and to preserve it here on my website, because it is a question I see every so often, and I do like to have a …
Can you wear medieval armour to a longsword tournament?Read More
Here is a write-up on the history of HEMA that I did back around 2005, to give a bit of perspective on where we are and where we came from. Please note that this is a copy & paste of the article that I wrote at that time, which was long before …
Matt Galas on the history of HEMA – reposting a summary from c.2005Read More
When we are training martial arts, or any other challenging endeavour such as a sport or a musical instrument or some form of DIY or craft skill, we experience both success and failure. What is a healthy way of understanding these …
Something that I have been thinking about a lot recently is the duality between saying yes to one thing and saying no to another. Simply by saying yes to one thing, I must necessarily say no to another, and vice versa. Therefore, deciding or agreeing …
People often use the word pressure when talking about martial arts. It is quite a useful word, and it can be used to mean many different things. However, that also means that it can sometimes confuse matters slightly, when the instructor uses the …
